Posts tagged ‘mental-health’

Gratitude pushes out negative thinking, especially resentments & fear. Say only prayers of gratitude through out the day. If we are grateful, we are connecting to God, a power greater then self.

Start to view life not as a given that we easily take things for granted but as a gift. Start to count the endless blessing we are given and be mindful of gratitude for them. Such as: eye sight, your lungs, waking up, your hands, for food, for a beautiful sunset, for the car starting, for sobriety, for your heart that is beating, for friendship and love, for clothes to wear, for a bed to sleep in, for family, for creativity and imagination, for a shower and water, for feelings, for every experience and blessing in the gift of life and say a prayer of gratitude. A simple prayer: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Prayer of Gratitude by Duane Jackson:

All mighty God, Hear this my prayer. I come to you on bended knee to thank you for the gift of life…..and all daily blessings. Especially for my sobriety and return to sanity and reason. And from this time and place forward, I will carry your message of hope, recovery, love & gratitude to other spiritually sick and suffering people. May I do thy will always. So be it.

Meditation & Relaxation

AA and the 12 steps emphasize the importance of meditation but give no direction on how to do so.

AA BB says the problem is centered in our thinking; the root of the problem is self-centeredness (pg 62 AA BB). The dilemma of why we cannot change (page 45 1rst full paragraph) is A Lack OF Power. The Solution is connecting to Power. The steps are designed to strip away the stuff of self that blocks us from the Power.

This is a must, as we cannot stay sober by memory (pg 24 AA BB in italics). The greatest form of powerlessness is our own thinking. Because; we have short-term thinking and change our minds. What we feel very strong about today will be out of mind down the road. This is why despite our good intentions; we cannot stay sober on our will power alone. We must build a relationship with a power greater than our selves. Meditation is a way of going beyond self and connecting with God.

Be still and know I AM God – The Bible

Beyond self-powered thinking is consciousness and awareness. Step 11 is about improving our conscious contact with God. Meditation is how to do that.

This form of meditation can take you beyond self-powered busy brained thinking and you will experience the stillness within. It will relax you in profound ways so you can be in the moment, not the busy brain of the future and past. Fears are about the future, resentments are about the past. Meditation is not based on our power to work, it will relax us and let us experience being in the moment, in the now. It allows intuitive thoughts, inspiration and direction from a higher power to flow in.

Silent Mantra Meditation

The root words of mantra are: Man – think, intent or mind. Tra means – protection from or freedom of bondage from. So together the root of using a mantra means: protect from our thinking or freedom from our minds.

Meditation can relax us and take away all anxiety if practiced regularly.

It is my opinion the number one reason for relapse is anxiety and busy brained thinking. At some point we cant take it anymore and reach for relief in our drug or drink of choice. Then the phenomenon of the obsession of mind and the physical craving begin all over again. If we are truly relaxed and have no anxiety by meditating, we never get to a point of needing relief, we are happy & peaceful.

Sit comfortably in a chair with eyes closed for 30 seconds.

Say Ahhm – I – Ahhmm silently in your head for 20 minutes. Do not worry about thinking or controlling anything. Just keep returning back to the silent mantra. Its ok to think and you will. You will have thinking then mantra, thinking then mantra. You may not think it is working for about 10 minutes but just keep returning to gently saying the mantra silently in your head. At some point you will notice the relaxation coming into the body, your arms will feel heavy but your mind will still be aware. Usually at about 15 minutes in we will start to feel a great sense of stillness, this is the state of transcendence.

After the 20 minutes of repeating the mantra silently in your head. Stop the mantra and just sit for 2 more minutes with your eyes still closed.

Do this 2 times a day for the 22.5 minutes and you will begin to notice a transformation in your daily life in many ways. It becomes self-revealing.

It is best to do it on a empty stomach before breakfast and dinner. Do it 8 hours apart. From each 20 minutes of meditation, the body will get 8 hours of what’s known as restful awareness.